KITCHENER -- Archaeologists have uncovered ancient Indigenous artifacts at a construction site in Kitchener.
One of the items is an arrowhead, believed to date back to 1400 B.C.
The dig is one of two projects on Fischer-Hallman road. The other is a road construction project by the region.
Associate archeologist Barbara Slim said the arrowhead would have been used for hunting.
"It would have been used to be put on a spear and hunt large mammals," she explained.
They've been on the site for just over two weeks.
"At this point, we've found 4,000 artifacts already," Slim said.
The items include an ash pit, remnants of wooden posts and another hunting weapon.
"We have evidence of what is called a late woodland village site," Slim said. "At this point, we believe [we] have two long houses."
The archeological work is separated from the construction by fencing so the work doesn't interfere with any findings.
"[It's] open only to archeological staff, as well as field liaisons from the Indigenous communities," said Justin Armstrong, senior engineer with the Region of Waterloo.
The COVID-19 pandemic didn't slow down the construction, but did delay the dig until all parties from the community could attend.
"We're pretty excited to be working alongside them, having the First Nation community share their experience with us," Slim said.
The region said this phase of the project is almost wrapped up.
"We are hoping to reopen the road with two paved lanes, complete with paved shoulders for pedestrians and cyclists, by the end of the year," Armstrong said.
The project is in the first of four phases, which are scheduled into 2023.
The duration of the archeological work depends on what they find.
